Inside Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's Marriage: How They Support Each Other, Even When Times Get Tough

by Alex Ungerman
4:04 PM PST, November 23, 2016

Photo: Getty Images

This is far from a 72-day marriage.

After Kim Kardashian canceled her first public appearance since being robbed at gunpoint in Paris, to be with husband Kanye West following the 39-year-old rapper's breakdown and hospitalization, a source close to the couple tells ET, "Kim feels more connected to Kanye than ever."

"Their marriage is doing great," adds the source, dispelling rumors that a split is imminent. "She's with Kanye right now at his side. He's doing much better. He just needed some rest."

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jun 8, 2016 at 11:55am PDT

Kim began dating Kanye while still legally married to NBA player Kris Humphries, with whom the reality star filed for divorce less than three months after they wed in 2010. And Kanye was still known to a lot of people as "the guy who took Taylor Swift's mic" at the 2009 Video Music Awards, though having entered what many fans consider to be a post-My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy renaissance in his music career.

But two children later -- 3-year-old North and 11-month-old Saint – the couple is still going strong. The most remarkable thing about the couple’s resilience is that their marriage has not been without its challenges.

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Jun 19, 2016 at 8:41pm PDT

Now, don't us wrong, two years of marriage is by no means a long time. But while no one can say for certain what their future holds, we can look back to see that during their time together, they seem to have each other's back when times get tough.

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Apr 23, 2016 at 4:12pm PDT

This is a verifiable claim. You only need to look to Saturday Night Live's recurring sketch during the 2013-14 season, "Waking Up With Kimye," where Jay Pharoah would play a Yeezus-inspired Kanye defending and building up Nasim Pedrad's Kim, who was... less than sympathetic to the real Kim's intellect.

It speaks to why Kim responded to critics of some of Kanye's very Kanye-like rants in February by posting to her website, "Hating that people don't get that Kanye will stand up against the whole world for his creativity and art."

After what seemed like a sunset to the two musicians’ feud, Kanye's Life of Pablo song, "Famous," blew everything back up with the controversial line, "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex, why, I made that b**ch famous."

The line doesn't 100 percent hold up, especially if you consider Taylor's phenomenal career even before the "Kanye mic grab" moment. Kim not only argued in a July interview with GQ that the 1989 singer "totally approved" the line, after Taylor's cryptically pointed repudiation at the GRAMMYs of the lyric, but the reality star took the fight to where her message travels farthest: social media.

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Feb 13, 2016 at 9:25am PST

Kim Snapchatting a phone conversation between Taylor and Kanye, where the singer appears to approve at least part of the "Famous" line, broke the internet, and prompted a response from Taylor herself that she'd "very much like to be excluded from this narrative."

Following the Paris robbery in October that caused Kim to significantly dial back her social media presence, Kanye was by her side as well. The rapper ended a Queens, New York, concert mid-song after learning that gunmen had tied her up at her hotel in Paris, robbing her of over $10 million in jewelry.

The rapper ended a Queens, New York show mid-song to be with his wife after gunman tied her up at her hotel in Paris, robbing her of over $10 million in jewelry.

Kanye postponed several tour dates to be with his family, and some believe that the musician's hectic work schedule may have contributed to him being "in a bad place" amid recent onstage rants, bizarre behavior, and ultimately, hospitalization.

"Before Paris, there were a lot of things Kanye committed to work wise that he couldn't cancel. All he wanted to do was stay home with Kim and the kids, and he couldn't," a source tells ET. "He realized he couldn't do it all and just broke."

"It was a combination of a lot of issues: stress, anxiety, paranoia. He just broke," the source says. "There have been signs recently of him just overwhelmed. He has a lot going on: multiple fashion lines, the tour, his business, being a father. And then the Paris incident also threw him for a big loop. His mother passed away this time of year. So, there is a lot going on right now. Kanye hasn't been himself for a while."

Just as Kanye did after Paris, Kim rushed to his side, even missing the NYC Angel Ball honor to her late father, Robert Kardashian.